Reds' Teammates on Aroldis Chapman's Dominance

From a fan’s standpoint, what Aroldis
Chapman is doing seems amazing. Through May 27, Chapman hadn’t allowed
an earned run in 21 appearances and 26 innings. He’d only allowed seven
hits, walked eight and struck out 44. But it’s not just those in the
stands that are impressed — so are his teammates.

Here’s what the other Reds are saying about Chapman:

Starter Mike Leake: “It’s a lot of fun.
You know he has a lot more confidence and knows the life in the United
States better. He’s not dreading as much. He’s more happy. It’s nice to
see him in that mood. He’d slumbered a little bit the last couple of
years, and even more than his numbers, it’s nice to see he’s happier
than he has been in the past.”

“He throws 100. When you’re throwing 100,
it’s a little easier. He’s throwing strikes and challenging guys. It’s
nice to see him filling the zone and throwing to the mitt instead of all
over the place.”

Catcher Ryan Hanigan: “It’s just
impressive how many outs are by the strikeout. It’s a testament to how
many strikes he’s throwing. He’s able to come back when he falls behind
and not walk guys. It’s tough to string hits off of him, so with that
combination, he’s pretty much dominant right now.”

“He has a two-seamer when guys are
cheating and looking to pull, because that goes away from the hitter and
you have to stay on if you want to hit it. And if guys are staying
back, we go in on their hands. And then we break out the slider to keep
them honest and pump the zone [with strikes], keeping it simple.”

Outfielder Ryan Ludwick, who is 0-for-2
with a walk in three at-bats against Chapman with the Padres and
Pirates: “I think it’s different from when I faced him until now.

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He’s a
different pitcher now. He’s staying in the strike zone better. Before,
you just focused dead red [on the fastball]. You just tried to get
ready. It was fairly straight and you saw it well. Now it seems like
he’s got a little more deception and he’s more around the zone. He’s not
throwing his offspeed a lot and it’s in the vicinity more. Before, he’d
throw that slider and you’d be sitting on it because it’s so far out of
the zone right away. Now he’s in the zone and throwing 100, so it makes
it tough.”

Reliever Logan Ondrusek: “It’s really
impressive. He’s come a long way from his first year and last year,
where he had some control problems. This year he wanted to be a starter
all spring and they told him he was going to the bullpen and he’s taken
to it. He hasn’t complained — they hand him the ball and it’s impressive
to watch. Once you get to the two strikes, you don’t know if it’s going
to be 100, his slider or a split. At times it’s real fun and other
times you just wish you had a little bit of that.”

Catcher Devin Mesoraco: “Right now, the
way he’s throwing, he’s just pumping strikes in there. Last year guys
would take a pitch and then maybe he’d throw a borderline pitch and get
it called a ball, but now it’s strike one, strike two and going right
after guys.”

Shortstop Zack Cozart: “Sometimes it’s
tough when you’ve got a guy like that out there because you’re so used
to him striking out everybody and all of a sudden a ball’s hit and
you’re shocked. You’ve got to stay on top of it.”

“His stuff is so good that he realizes on
nights when he’s only throwing 95, 96, that he’s still blowing it by
people like he’s throwing 103. Guys go up there and know a fastball’s
coming and they’re still not hitting it. As a hitter, when a guy’s
throwing that hard, it’s tough. He’s missing bats. When he gets a 2-0
count, he’s coming right back at guys and throwing strikes, which is
something he didn’t do a couple of years ago. He’s showing a lot of
poise out there.”

“You don’t want to face guys like that.
When you’re up here in the big leagues, every time someone comes out of
the bullpen, you know they have good stuff. But right now, Chapman is
ahead of everyone else. I’m sure people see him warming up or coming out
for the save and hoping he gets wild, because they know they’re not
going to hit him. That’s the key. You go up there and if he’s throwing
strikes, I don’t see him getting hit too often.”

Starter Homer Bailey: “He’s almost at an
advantage because he doesn’t read the papers, he doesn’t hear you guys
talking about him — well, he does, but he doesn’t know what you’re
saying — he’s oblivious to all of it. In a way, he’s oblivious to what
he’s doing or what the records are. It’s like his first year, when he
faced Albert Pujols, he didn’t know who that was — it was just their big
first baseman. What he’s doing at the end of games is awesome.”